Posted by BrittPark on October 20, 2002, at 20:39:53
In reply to Re: What did people do before antidepressants?, posted by linkadge on October 20, 2002, at 20:06:10
I agree that we (on average) live in a much more disconnected society. 100 years ago it was rare for a son or daughter to settle in a different city let alone state when they grew up. Human's are tribal creatures and our tribes have been taken away from us.
From the purely medical point of view people were treated for depression before the advent of antidepressants in the 50s. Psychotherapy was one route and not a very successful one. Another was opiates, usually morphine. That worked very well but tended to work only for a short time as tolerance built. The last treatment I know of was amphetamines. Often very effective but like morphine didn't tend to last long.
It's a pity that these older pharmaceutical treatments haven't been followed up. Morphine is an antidepressant for a lot of people. Just think how much better treatments we would have now if efforts had been made to counteract opioid and stimulant tolerance.
Britt "I'd take OxyContin every day if I knew I wouldn't grow tolerant to it." Park
poster:BrittPark
thread:124428
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021019/msgs/124436.html